Speculation abounds about why California’s outdoor marijuana crop seizures this year may be their lowest since 2004, but it’s no secret why medical pot is becoming more scarce.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office kept up its assault on medical marijuana by taking legal action Tuesday against 71 dispensaries in Los Angeles County. The federal officials filed forfeiture actions against three properties housing pot shops, and sent warning letters to 68 other businesses that bad things were about to happen. The shops were in downtown Los Angeles, Eagle Rock and Huntington Park.

Marijuana is illegal under federal law, permissible in California under certain medical conditions and banned or controlled by 175 cities and 20 counties―including the city of Los Angeles, where it will probably be contested at the ballot box. The municipal ordinance passed two years ago caps the number of dispensaries at 70, while more than 750 have registered with the city and another 200 may exist.

Last month, 66 businesses in Orange County reportedly received closure warning notices from the feds and an estimated 300 marijuana dispensaries have been targeted since the crackdown began a year ago.   

While marijuana activities on the home front have escalated, authorities are reporting a decline in crop seizures, mostly on public lands, for the second year in a row. Although the federal government ran some big campaigns, like Operation Mountain Sweep, it is on a pace to confiscate just 1.5 million plants, down from 7.3 million in 2009.

The decline has been attributed to the federal crackdown on dispensaries, the end of a 30-year state eradication program, a shift to smaller plots on private land, a saturated marketplace, weather changes and effects from long-term enforcement efforts. No one has suggested that the decline is due to reduced demand.

–Ken Broder

To Learn More:

Feds Target 71 Medical Marijuana Dispensaries in L.A. County (by Andrew Blankstein, Los Angeles Times)

Fed Crackdown on Pot Dispensaries Extends to LA (by Greg Risling, Associated Press)

Officials Seize Less Calif. Marijuana, See More Crops on Private Land (by Andrew Becker, The Bay Citizen)